Domestic Airlines Carried 13.8 Million Passengers in May

18.06.2024 - 07:05 / skift.com / Ashab Rizvi / Bulbul Dhawan / Indigo Airlines

Budget airline IndiGo continued to hold the top position in the domestic aviation market with a 61.6% market share in May, up from 60.6% in April. Air India was a distant second at 13.7%, and Vistara followed with a 9.2% share, Directorate General of Civil Aviation data showed.

Vistara recorded the least amount of cancellations during the month at a 0.2% cancellation rate. Low-cost airline Akasa Air was the most punctual, delivering on-time performance about 86% of the time. 

Indian airlines carried nearly 13.8 million passengers in May, the highest monthly passenger traffic this year. With this, the total number of passengers served by domestic airlines between January and May this year was over 66.1 million,  

The airlines recorded an annual growth of about 4% in air passenger traffic for the January-May period this year. 

Skift Research examined Indigo’s rise to dominance in a report this month: “The Curious Case of Indigo Airlines, India’s Largest Airline.” Analyst Ashab Rizvi attributes the gains to Indigo’s execution of low-cost operations, focusing on operational efficiency, and building a robust network to meet the growing demand. But now Indigo is entering its next growth phase and Rizvi looks at its chances of success. 

Booming Aviation Sector: Indian airlines are expected to account for half of the country’s international traffic by fiscal 2027-2028, up from the current 43%. A shift in spending patterns and increasing inclination of Indians towards international leisure travel are expected to drive this growth. 

Domestic carriers such as IndiGo and Air India are expanding their networks, getting into codeshare agreements, and widening domestic connectivity. All of these factors are playing a positive role in boosting Indian airlines. 

There is also a surge in passenger traffic. According to data by credit ratings agency ICRA, the domestic air passenger traffic in India in May was 14% higher than pre-Covid levels. The agency estimated that in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, domestic air passenger traffic was 154 million, and it expects this trend to continue in the ongoing financial year. 

India’s smallest state – Goa – is trying to attract remote workers on the lines of digital nomad visas.

In an interview with Skift, the beach state’s tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said, “Digital nomads represent a high-spending segment that significantly boosts the local economy. We already host over 10,000 digital nomads from within India, and we aim to increase this number by creating the ideal environment for remote work.”

Goa is planning to roll out high-speed internet across its rural areas, and is also working to create coworking spaces along the beaches to attract this userbase.

Digital nomad visas